. >> the fiscal cliff which the republicans voted for and the 2%. but we'll get there. best-selling author jon meacham is still with us. along with "the washington post's" david ignatius in washington and former director of the office for budget, vice chairman of global banking at citibank and adjunct -- good lord, seriously. >> you've got more titles than mark mckinnon. we've got peter orzsag. >> from "time" rana faroohar is here. >> the frito-lay. >> so peter, we have a lot to talk about. first of all, explain what's going on. you see the two sides lobbying, these rhetorical missiles past these other while john boehner and president obama are calmly, quietly, privately speaking. what's going on? is that for the base? who is that far? >> well, yeah. first, look, if we had a deal on december 10th, both bases would say you're nuts, you gave too much. it's not surprising that it hasn't come together. i think the big concern at this point is you can see a deal coming together on taxes. >> on taxes, right. >> some increase in marginal tax rates, not to 39.6%. some reduction